FLOURISH: Gimme A Break

It’s Monday morning and sometimes we feel like we can’t put the breaks on life. Can I get an Amen? In between crazy work schedules, family duties and well just life in general, you can begin to feel like taking a break is impossible. The thing about owning your own business and being a mom is that you ALWAYS feel on. I haven’t run, read a book or done anything for me in weeks. I often feel like the only time I have to myself is on the toilet, but even the cat comes in and interrupts me. It dawned on me that you don’t have to be a mom or business owner to feel like you can’t get off the crazy train.

Aside from coming out of a very busy wedding season (which I am incredibly grateful to God for), we are now heading into the holidays where production, workshops and traveling abound. So when my family wanted us to take a break and have a family reunion in Cancun, I started to break a sweat. I needed to say no.

I’ll be honest. I took on too much this summer leading into fall. I said yes to things that maybe were not meant for me to carry. We had started 9 weeks of Foster Care/Adoption classes and brought Pearl with us. I signed up Pearl for a music class and I had started taking letterpress classes. Jon Marc had started up school again.

It really was just too much. I felt like a failure often. A failed mom. A failed wife. A failed daughter. A failed daughter-in-law. A failed sister. A failed sister-in-law. A failed aunt. A failed running buddy. A failed friend. A failed business owner. Overcommitting is a habit I’m working diligently to break, but it feels like such slow progress. I say no to some things, only to find myself saying yes to others things. When you spread yourself too thin, everything takes a hit. I’m pretty tired of things taking hits.

I didn’t want my family to take a hit this time, so I said yes to the reunion. Ultimately though, if I wanted to flourish, I had to take a hard look at the other areas in my life that I needed to say no to. Lysa TerKeurst in her book , The Best Yes, says, “Every appointment has a disappointment connected to it.” If I wanted to make this incredible appointment to connect with family, I needed to say no and disappoint other areas in my life. Jon Marc had to do the same.

I said no to two incredible conferences that same week. One was a dream come true conference in Nashville that I had been gifted with. I said no to some social events that always give me a small sense of FOMO. I had to say no to any hesitations I had about traveling with a baby in toe. I pulled a few all nighters and delegated some responsibilities to our lovely interns, but once I had my priorities straight (my family) it was easy to do.

Let me tell you..It was a much needed break. I needed time to clear my head. Realign my values and priorities. I encourage you that if you are on that crazy train, take a leap of faith and derail. Life is so much more than this rat race that we are on. I mean why grow a business, have a family, and work towards goals if you don’t take a moment and enjoy it. Life is too short not to take a break. We all need it and the busier you are, the more important it is to do so.

I want to hear from you…What is the break that you have been needing? Is it a date night? A walk in the park? Going back to church? You’re too busy and life is too fragile for you not to do it!